'Resigned To Protect Existence Of Party': Ex-Bihar Min Santosh Manjhi Says Not Invited For Oppn Meeting

Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Santosh Kumar Suman said that he resigned to protest the existence of his party.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi' son Santosh Manjhi has said that the existence of his party was in danger and that is why he resigned as the cabinet minister of the Bihar government. Manjhi said that he still considers CM Nitish Kumar as the leader in the Mahagathbandhan, but there were talks on the merger of the party to which he had no choice. He claimed that his decision was not 'unilateral' and it was decided after talking to everyone in the party.

"In Mahagathbandhan, we considered Nitish Kumar as our leader and we still consider him one. But for the past few days, a proposal for a merger of the party was being put before us...This is not a unilateral decision by me. This was decided after meeting with and talking to everyone..," said Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Santosh Kumar Suman.

He said, "...the existence of my party was under threat, I did this to protect it...".

Responding to opposition parties' meet on June 23, he said, "When we were not even invited, when we were not even recognised as a party, how would we have been invited?" he says when asked if his party will attend the Opposition party meeting later this month and joining hands with any other party, he said, "We are not having any such conversation with anyone as of now. We are an independent party, we will think about protecting our existence. I am not thinking this right now, I still want to be a part of Mahagathbandhan."

"What I am saying is that our existence was under threat. If someone tells me to merge (the party), what other option will I have? What would you have done had you been in my place?" Manjhi further told reporters.

Notably, the HAM leader quit the Bihar cabinet on Tuesday ahead of the Mahagathbandhan meeting, scheduled to take place on June 23. Confirming the development, HAM national spokesperson Shyamsundar Sharan said that Santosh handed over the resignation letter to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to Santosh, he resigned from the cabinet after Janata Dal United's proposal of merger. "When we spoke to our workers and MLAs, everyone refused for the merger. We respect the sentiments of JDU, but our party has also been formed on some issues," he said.